March 3, 1982, I remember the arts reporter on WBZ in Boston talking about Prince coming 2the Orpheum on the late local news. Whoa, he looks really weird 2 this 13 year old staying up past his bedtime. (OK, I had to look 2 get the date.)
Don't u remember that song u used to hear your mother practicing disco 2 with her dance partner, "I Wanna Be Your Lover" and that other one, "Sexy Dancer?"
Oh yeah. That's him? Little did I know at the time.
Man, Reagan is going 2 cause a global thermonuclear war.
Mommy, why does everybody have a bomb?
That's cool, let's get that 45. Whoa, look at that picture cover. Great song!
Hey, flip that record over. How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore? Wow, but, uhhh... I already feel awkward enough at 13. But 1999? Yeah. That.
On the Today show, after 1999 had come and gone on Boston radio, I remember they would occasionally have a guy on from Billboard or Cashbox or one of the music rags, and he said Prince was going 2 be the next big thing. Oh yeah? Tell that 2 Michael Jackson.
Heh.
Little Red Corvette. Oh wow. It's all over the place. And look at that video on MTV. I guess he is pretty cool now. That guy on the Today show might have been right.
It's Midnight Saturday night on Kiss 108 in Boston, and the tradition of playing Controversy sticks 4 years. Prince taught me The Lord's Prayer.
My dad, a jazz aficionado and musician, asks me while listening 2 it, "Do u think that's music?" Yes dad. SMH.
Oh my God, what song is THAT? It sounds so different. The day was Saturday, June 2, 1984. I had yet 2 hear When Doves Cry... until that day. I remember looking at the radio, riveted, like, "Huh? Wow!" It didn't take long for 15-year-old me to get swept up in the Purple Rain fever. And the hits just kept on coming. Finally in the middle of that summer I saw that the When Doves Cry single had a B-side when Sunny Joe White played it on Kiss. Why isn't that on the album? Take my $1.69, please.
The first "girlfriend."
The first kiss.
"Did you see Prince at the Centrum?" God, I wish. "Check out my t-shirt." Yeah, pretty sweet.
Wait, what's this Around the World in a Day thing? I mean, that's cool and everything, but... Well, at least Temptation feels like a Prince record. What's with that "Oh silly man" voice. And he dies? Wait, no videos? And he changed his hair? Good grief.
Thank God 4 that cough.
And that paisley. And that MTV interview. And the realization that I had 2 get the B-sides as well.
Happy spring! Oh God, he changed his hair again, and why's it all in black and white? But this Kiss song is great. Glad I had my license 2 run out and get it. Shhh, don't tell Mom and Dad that I snuck up 2 Strawberries. Did u hear it? Come here, listen 2 this. See? Told u! I hear he's got another movie coming out.
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What in the hell was that? The music was good, and Jerome was funny, and there were a couple of good scenes. I mean, Victor Maitlin as Mary Sharon's dad was actually kinda cool. But, uhhh, I didn't get it. Except 4 the wrecka stow. At least the soundtrack is good.
Wait, he's BREAKING UP THE REVOLUTION? Oh no, he's never going 2 b the same again. What is he thinking?
New Prince record at the beginning of April. Say did u hear it? Man, that's deep. What is he thinking? And La, La, La, Hee, Hee, Hee? Why would he waste a groove like that on lyrics like... that? When's the album coming out? 3 weeks?
Oh... My... God... This album is unbelievable. Bullshit! Housequake is blowing my doors off!
I'm so happy the first "real" girlfriend is into Prince, too.
Time 2 head 2 college. And I found some other Prince freaks. We r best friends 2 this day, even though we r on different coasts. Wait, u mean he's putting out another album in December? And it's gonna be called The Black Album? To be his version of The White Album. Oh man, I can't wait...
Well, this tape is kinda scratchy, but these songs are pretty awesome. Why didn't he put it out?
I dunno.
Cuz Lovesexy is the one til my day is done. But wow, that cover is weird. Why didn't he track it? Aw, wow, that's dog.
And I'm pining over the first girlfriend breaking up with me, putting The Beautiful Ones on a loop, which meant play the song, pick up the needle, put it back to the beginning of the third track on side A.
How do we get tickets to the Lovesexy Tour? Stand in line at Tower Records, right? OK, who's doing that? Great. I also want tickets for the second night, can you swing that? That's right, I probably need to stand in line with you. OK cool.
Happiness is that time at that second night and he does Bob George and Superfunkycalifragisexy about 45 minutes in, and only 10% of the crowd knows what he's playing... and you're part of that 10% laughing your butt off at that skinny mutha... Chalk one up 4 the kid.
And I got to see Candy Dulfer make her American debut on that night in October. I had no idea. And she was smokin'.
And these were the best concerts I had ever seen in my life 2 that point (and they are still in my top 5).
Then, 1989 a number, another summer... And the Cinnamon Posse, our closest group of friends, is born.
Batman? Yessss! Junior year, time 2 party. You want 2 watch Under the Cherry Moon before we go out 2nite? OK.
20-year old me gets it far better after a couple of watches on VHS than 17-year old me ever did on July 3, 1986. Let’s go.
He's making a sequel 2 Purple Rain! This is gonna be awesome!
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Well, at least the soundtrack is out of this world.
Graduation. Tears flowing over the what-ifs of losing the girlfriend to long distance. Until the end of time... Way too much fun my senior year.
Prince was the soundtrack to my adolescence, like so many of us.
I drove out to Illinois from the East Coast to see my girlfriend, listening to Diamonds and Pearls all the way. Anthony Kiedis-approved, according to Rolling Stone. Nice! I stopped at a rest stop in Indiana on the way out there and... Magic Johnson? Oh man.
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Sexy M.F. That is all. How funky can he get? And look at that Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket on the drummer's head!
I got my hands on a copy of the O+> album a couple of days before its release and rushed home 4 a listen. Wow. Just... Wow.
Somewhere in here, he's per4ming on Arsenio. Woof! Woof! Woof!
Fast 4ward another couple of months. I go on spring break with the girlfriend 2 Sandals, but not b4 procuring tickets 2 go 2 c the show the Monday after I get back. Who ever heard of a plane in Jamaica being delayed by snow? 4 three days? Most people would think that's fine, three more days in Jamaica. There's no lonelier place on earth than a Sandals resort (couples only) after your girlfriend breaks up with u on what was supposed 2 b the last night of the trip...
So I get home. But I miss the Monday night concert (on the Act I Tour in early 1993) because I can only get 2 NYC, not 2 home. Great. Money down the drain that I don't have. I was told the show was amazing but that the real deal was the encore on the show that I missed. Grrrrr...
The next morning I get home. They lose my bags on the shuttle 2 DC. Didn't even take a picture of Boston before delivering it 2 me. Can I catch a break here? I get 2 work about two hours late. I leave work about two hours early. "Where the hell r u going?" I'm trying to get a ticket 2 the show 2nite, and he was playing at a venue in the suburbs that I wasn't sure how 2 get 2, driving myself. Needless 2 say, I'm getting in, I just need 2 get in without paying an absolute arm and a leg. I get 2 the parking lot at about 5PM trying 2 get the lay of the land around the arena, where the entrances are, where the scalpers congregate. And as I'm circling the arena, I see people in the ticket office, and I just walked right up there, I'm hot. And I asked if they had any tickets 2 2nite's show. "Yes, how many do u need?" I held up one finger. "Is second row OK?" Sure, how much? $24.75... Holy... R u kidding me? I couldn't believe my luck! And everyone sitting around me had the same story. They were told radio promos that went unclaimed. I preferred the tack of asking no questions. I was second row, alone, at the Prince concert, watching my man in living color! He did come down the aisle and was standing 10 feet away from me, shredding guitar 4 a moment. Tony M and Kirky J came down those steps a couple of times. And the concert was sublime. My favorites that I knew were how he per4med I Wanna Melt with U, that more ethereal arrangement, and The Continental, with the coda of Get on Up. And they didn't tell me he was per4ming a new song. Peach. And the die was cast 4 "slave' right there, b4 I knew it. What a show! Hey wait... No encore? No Partyman? Oh no no no, we won't have any of that.
U c, on Tuesday, the day of the show I attended, he announced a benefit show 4 Gallaudet, downtown at the Warner. Oh good God, I gotta get in2 that show 2. But I need a ticket! I get down there, and there were several scalpers running around, but there was this one kid hocking one. He wanted $75 4 the one ticket. The other guys all had pairs or more and were trying 2 get over $100 each. (It sounds so quaint now, am I right?) I kept cycling back with this kid. Now these were the days b4 ATMs were all over the place, and I had $71 in my pocket, really hoping 2 get in 4 $50-60. The line was almost all the way in the theater, and I said 2 him, "Look, u want $75, I have $71 on me. I'm gonna turn out all my pockets and show u. Nothing up my sleeve. Nothing in my shoes. No body cavity search allowed, but I'm serious. I want 2 get in, and no one else is giving u that $75. What do u say?"
I'm in.
20 rows back, behind the soundboard, with a ticket with $0.00 face value, in the middle of the benefit section filled with deaf people... who went absolutely nuts at this concert. Yes, there were some VIPs and other high rollers, but this was truly a benefit at an 1800 seat theater in downtown DC. It was fantastic. He played Peach again. One more listen and I might even get the lyrics down. AND? I got 2 c the encore of the show. With Partyman. Oh, I was pumped.
In another venue with a capacity of maybe 150. At a different time. I got 2 c Eric Leeds solo. I got him 2 autograph my Japanese CD pressing of The Family, and he looked at me, like, "Where the hell did u get this?" And the Prince fam was all over that joint.
Come. You should do that baby.
Isn't this about the time that he took over Arsenio's show 4 the NPG dancers who were "about 2 go on tour" but who never did? I know this: That per4mance of Endorphine Machine got worn out on my VCR and the audio cassette I made of it.
Donnie Simpson premieres Pink Cashmere. Oh look, there's Peach. And Pope? And there's that Miles Davis song from Crucial at the end of the B-sides. You mean that's not Miles? I don't care. It's perfect.
Same venue as Eric solo, about a year later, I get 2 c Sheila E. With Eric Leeds. With many of the NPG band members. And I got 2 take my new girlfriend. Still - lots of the Prince fam.
But what's with this TAFKAP and "Slave" stuff? My best friend was trying 2 catch a break in the music biz in LA, and he explained it 2 me. Yeah, two Prince albums a year would be damned nice.
I made it out 2 LA 4 a combination of business and pleasure, and we made it 2 Glam Slam LA. I bought one of everything at the store. I had a couple of cocktails. What a night. The music was slammin'. And I got 2 watch Boogaloo Shrimp dancing on the floor? Too much.
Letterman: So it makes perfect sense that he's here promoting it 2nite.
Yeah, I wouldn't talk 2 him either after that. But it was funny.
I went 2 the Glam Slam in South Beach with my girlfriend. Even more decadent. Now I understand why Prince liked Miami. Could u b?
But he looks a mess in the video. I hope he's OK.
(Meanwhile, I look back on that time, and I realize he was absolutely on fire as a per4mer and as a business guy.)
Well promote this, Dave. The Gold Experience is on, and P Control is my girlfriend's jam! But wait, where's Days of Wild?
Let's get married.
YES!
And then the rush of releases to get out of the Warn a Brotha contract. Chaos & Disorder about sums it up. (But man, it gets a lot of play on my ipod, still.)
FREE AT LAST! What an amazing album. And three of them. And he said he's made more money than he has off of any recordings, except for Purple Rain, for Emancipation. God bless him. The soundtrack to my summer getting ready 2 get married 2 the love of my life.
In January, we went 2 c him at Constitution Hall 4 the Love4OneAnother charity show. Great time. First time I saw him with my wife.
Later that year, he came back around 4 the Jam of the Year. Oh yeah. Made it. Got a copy of a show from that tour per4med a week before in the parking lot. Too late 4 me 2 figure out that the afterparty would be at the 930 club. Damn, I missed it.
Wait, he's back again? 2 play the Capital Ballroom? I dunno, that's a part of town I'm not familiar with. Hang on... Oh yeah, I'm goin'. The vibe was almost like hanging off the ceiling. Standing room only, but The Freaks on This Side.
I even got my brother and his wife 2 plan a trip 2 c me around a fourth Prince concert in two years, and even though that album is probably the weakest one of his career, that show was absolutely great! I've since found out that this is the only time he and his wife ever saw Prince live. Chalk one more up 4 the kid.
Hit N Run 2000 was an ill-timed tour 4 me. He announced the ticket sale the day my son was born, and while I love me some Prince more than almost anything, no way I could go while my son was in the NICU. However, I have managed to find a way 2 listen 2 the second show he per4med after my son was born. I'm still trying 4 the first.
My wife couldn't get over some of the segues on The Rainbow Children, so I had 2 edit it down without the voice of God, and she then agreed with me that the album was fantastic on a driving trip along the coast.
I totally missed the ONA shows in DC because I was out of town. Ish.
Then, Musicology. THIS is what I've been preaching, people. Real music by real musicians! I want 2 bring my son. But he's not even four, yet. That's not gonna work. On the other hand, because I'm a club member, I got seventh row on the floor 2 out of the 3 nights. I went with one of my best friends the first night, and we were having an absolute ball jamming out. I totally missed the ball on the sale 4 the second night (the one where the "No Diggity" video is floating around from), but I managed 2 procure another pair 4 Saturday night 2 go with the Missus. Oh lawd. She was about 4-5 months pregnant with our youngest, and there were a couple of spots where we were worried... about that one in the oven. U see, this Saturday night show was louder than the Thursday night. And while the volume was not much of a worry at first, he covered Zeppelin's "Whole Lotta Love" like he did on the Vegas DVD, and Blackwell's double bass drum was incessant over the intentional guitar feedback that we worried would render our one in the oven hearing-impaired. When we went 2 the OB the following week, he laughed at us and said the only thing that would happen would be the kid coming out and singing Purple Rain! (Close 2 happening, BTW.)
Also, this Saturday night show had the immediately-opined distinction of being the best Prince show I had ever experienced. We all know about the Sly covers and the GCS covers and the Santana covers at this point, but I had never seen him do a Chuck Brown cover. Now, if u r from DC, u know who that is. If not, it's much more of a maybe. U might be familiar with one of the more famous samples in hip hop, a song of his called Ashley's Roach Clip. (I didn't know it was him until a couple of years ago, and I didn't know the name of that song, but I knew that beat.) Chuck was the Godfather of go-go, DC's signature local funk sound. It usually doesn't limit itself 2 one 3-6-minute song, and it's generally a live music thing, not a song thing. Chuck would get a groove going and the beat wouldn't stop 4 an hour while he'd rip thru the go-go swing, often, but not always, jazz standards and other R&B fused 2gether by the beat. But there are exceptions, and his song, Bustin' Loose, is a 1978 classic u likely know, if ur musical horizons are really wide, but that I would likely never have known if I didn't have a friend in high school from DC and had just stayed in Boston. Well... on this Saturday night in DC, he did Bustin' Loose in the middle of DMSR 4 what seemed like 10 minutes. He ripped the roof off that joint. Oh... My... God...
As an aside, several years later, I went 2 c Chuck live 4 the first time in my life. And it was at the same place I saw Eric and Sheila. Decidedly NOT the normal kind of place 4 Chuck 2 play. But he had a 3 night stand and I saw the sixth and last show. On a Sunday night. At 11PM. And I'm looking at his band. Holy crap, 3 of those guys were in the Musicology band! One of them was Greg Boyer, who characterized playing with Chuck as being his regular band. I told him about that night Prince per4med Bustin' Loose as being one of my favorite live Prince moments. He looked at me and said something like, "Oh yeah, I remember that night. We wanted 2 do that every night here and he wanted nothing 2 do with it. We had 2 beg him 2 do it that last night. But it was kickin', no doubt."
So then it's all records and TV. 3121. Don't u want 2 come? And that video 4 Black Sweat. The GMA per4mance with Tamar. The SNL per4mance with Tamar.
Wait a minute, the Super Bowl. Any questions? Johnny B. Goode. Get on the boat, people.
My dad volunteered that, as much as he had grown 2 respect Prince 4 playing all of the instruments thru the years, Prince really impressed him in that Super Bowl per4mance. He still talks about that occasionally as the gold standard 4 popular/rock music per4mance.
Leno. LotusFlow3r. Leno. Somewhere here on earth. Even Paul Shaffer knows.
Somewhere in here, my son is getting his first ipod, and he can tell u his favorite Coltrane, and Michael Jackson, and Stevie Wonder, and even Sinatra songs. But I've yet 2 sit down with my collection 2 figure out what Prince tracks I could put on a 9 year old's ipod. We got that figured out with some input from the fam and my best friend out in California. Starfish & Coffee was a favorite 4 awhile. Hold this thought.
Is Prince ever going 2 come back around 2 DC? Never mind.
I managed 2 get a copy of 2010. Wore that baby out on my ipod 4 awhile.
I hear he's playing with a new band, 3rdEyeGirl, so why do they only play over in Europe? Oh, hey, look at this! The interwebs are awesome!
New Prince album coming out. Art Official Age. I'm still a CD guy, so Target, here I come.
Around this time, my son and I attend a Wizards basketball game, and at one of the breaks, When Doves Cry is playing over the sound system. "Hey dad, I really like this song." MY JOB IS DONE HERE!
New Prince albums coming out. 2 on the same day? Target, here I come. Listen 2 these!
"Ladies and Gentlemen, u r so lucky 2NITE!" And that 'fro! Is he channeling Dylan? Say, is he feeling ok? No heels? But how fantastic was that? 4 songs, and the 3rdEyeGirl sounds like the Hendrix-blues-style Prince-ified that we've been talking about 4 decades.
U like pancakes?
Fall in Love 2Nite. That episode after the Super Bowl was so fun.
The Baltimore Rally 4 Peace concert comes and goes, and I totally missed the ticket sale. One of my friends from college was posting selfies from the crowd and said what I would have expected. "Screaming like a girl."
A couple of weeks later, Hit N Run IS COMING 2 DC! I have 2 get four tickets so that my kids can c what all my Prince fuss is about. I have 2 go. Oh my God. OK, so I go out on LiveNation, and I'm watching the countdown 2 buy tickets online. 5-4-3-2-1-BuyTickets. Sold out. WHAT?!?! As I keep hitting refresh, suddenly an 11PM Sunday night show at the Warner pops up. I call the Missus. I can't bring the kids, but I can get 2. Will u go? JUST GET THEM, ALREADY! Done. I'm going 2 the Prince show! I'm going 2 the Prince show! I wish I could have gotten the 8PM so I could bring the kids, but we're going!
It's ridiculously hot outside. And the line is snaking around the building. On a Sunday night. At 10:30PM. Who else could get that going on a Sunday night? I'm still mad at Obama 4 not inviting me 2 the East Room the night b4. What a setlist! He started with Guitar. He played the re-arranged Let's Go Crazy. Plectrum Electrum. He played the hits. He had the huge horn section that would run on and off the stage. He had the security guys enforcing the cell phone and camera rules. He had Judith Hill come out. He invited everyone 2 pull out their camera 4 the Dance Electric at about 12:45 Monday morning. Wait. It's 1AM and a Stevie Wonder concert breaks out?!? OMG, my wife and I were groovin' 4 hours. It was so fantastic. And then the lights came up. Awwwww. Is he going 2 come out in 15 minutes and play some more like my buddy told me he did in Detroit so many years ago? Well, that didn't happen. I was pretty useless the next day. Not from beverages, of which I had none. Just tired. Can we do that again sometime? Like maybe 2nite? I could not stop talking about this show 4 weeks. And I screamed like a girl.
And then while on vacation, the word that he would release another CD later in the year? It's almost like the old days. This is so great! And there it is. And then word of Phase 2? Aw, man, it's on Tidal? Phew, it's supposed to come on CD, alright.
Bowie. It hit me hard. It hit me far harder than I ever thought that it would. I loved Bowie more than I knew. But like Michael Jackson's b4, the first thing I thought was how much this was affecting me, but the immediate next thought was how much Prince's death would affect me. But I won't have 2 deal with that 4 awhile.
And word of the Piano and a Microphone shows. What a cool idea. I'd love 2 c that. He really seems energized. A tour would be an automatic. And these vids leaking online? I gotta c this.
And then, tax returns just out the door, I see the TMZ story about the stop in Moline. There's no way. That's gotta be a hoax. See? Save your prayers.
And then... the world stopped turning.
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A buddy on the West Coast in the news business popped up in my Facebook ribbon with news he was trying 2 confirm within about 2 minutes of the TMZ story popping. WHAT!?!
My next message was a text from my best friend. We're usually out on Facebook, not text. We were both in disbelief. Trying 2 find out if it was a hoax. In fact, I put that out on my Facebook wall immediately. And then the confirmation. "He's gone." He was on his way out of town, himself.
Damn! Christopher, DAMN!
All good things they say never last.
I was useless the rest of that afternoon. An office that usually has my music going was just... silent. I wasn't making calls. I had one conference call scheduled, and I hope I didn't lose them as a client. Looking back, I was pretty all over the place in that call, my mind elsewhere.
I wasn't crying. My wife was freaking out worse than I was on the surface. I was fielding emails and Facebook messages and responding. Posting pics and watching the news come across my Facebook wall were cathartic. But I was so blue. My Mom even called me. How could I expect that, when this isn't someone I was close 2 or in the family. But Mom knew. She knew this was hitting my soul.
At quitting time, I got in the car. I went 2 my go-2 Prince album 4 the ride. Parade. And then Track 12. I always say "Tracy died" on April 1, and my friends know. Little did we know it would be so literal this year. And while I wasn't bawling, I was crying all the way home, asking God why.
Have u ever been so lonely that u felt like u were the only one in this world?
We know what love is.
But while I wasn't alone, I was lonely.
That is, until I got home. 2 The One that I Adore.
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I know we all have our own Prince story. This is mine. And we all have met ourselves and each other in some small way because of him. God do I miss him. Like a brother.
But remember all the good memories, because that's what he helped us make. But stop being so melancholy, alright?
Honey, don't u know, I'll slap the waves out yo' hair.